Working toward self-determination for the West Papuan people

The Freedom Flotilla Will Go Down In History

Shirley Shackleton was on board the Lusitania when it sailed to East Timor in 1992 to protest the Indonesian occupation. She offers words of solidarity for the West Papuan Freedom Flotilla

When I heard the shadow foreign affairs spokesperson Julie Bishop comment recently on the Freedom Flotilla sailing peacefully to West Papua, I experienced a moment of déjà vu. In Bishop’s opinion, "If this Freedom Flotilla breaches Indonesia’s territorial sovereignty, Indonesia is entitled to use whatever means it wishes to protect it.”

In 1992 I sailed on the Lusitania Peace Ship to East Timor, which had similar objectives to the Freedom Flotilla, and was blocked by warships, a military plane, three helicopters, and threats to “shoot us out of the water”. The rhetoric at that time was similar to that which is being promulgated at present. We were insulted and threatened in what were obvious canards.

Nevertheless youthful volunteers came from France, Guinea-Bissau in Africa, Japan, Germany, Canada, Cape Verde, China, Indonesia, Holland, Austria, Vietnam, Italy, Brazil, India, Sweden, the United States of America, Britain, Australia and Portugal. Some of the volunteers on board had not been born when Indonesia invaded East Timor.

Reports from 2 March 1992 quote Australia’s ambassador to Indonesia, Philip Flood, as saying, “Australia will not sacrifice good relations with Jakarta”. He threatened to take “appropriate measures” if “they [the peace mission members] act illegally”. Apparently it didn’t occur to Flood to suggest to the Indonesian dictator Suharto that it would be unwise from public relations point-of-view to sink a civilian ship.

We wanted to alert the world to the parlous situation in East Timor by walking from Dili port to the Santa Cruz cemetery to place flowers on the graves of victims of the Santa Cruz massacre.

To have the guts to protest without being armed is a frightening affair. Twenty-one years ago, on 10 March at 11am, a RAAF plane flew over us. At 2.40pm an Indonesian Caribou aircraft swooped us twice. At 5pm two more aircraft made two more sweeps. Next morning, 11 March, I woke at 4am to see the outline of eight warships and a frigate following us. When the sun came up one student rubbed his eyes and exclaimed, “I’ve never seen a more exciting sunrise”.

The parallels between the present Flotilla and the Lusitania are obvious. One sincerely hopes for as good an outcome. After negotiations our captain turned his ship. He instructed us to make our way to the stern where we threw our wreaths and flowers. At no time had anyone on the Lusitania made so much as a rude gesture towards the bullying warships. As we sailed back to Australia many voiced their pleasure to have taken part. I overheard a Japanese girl and a German youth promising to work all the harder for freedom for the Timorese from Javanese oppression.

I heard a report that thousands of Timorese had flooded into Dili to welcome the Lusitania. The boost to Timorese morale had clearly rattled the occupying army. We had struck a blow against the dictatorship’s capacity to rely on propaganda. It also helped to instil immense pride both in Portugal and East Timor and among the passengers who returned to their homelands to great acclaim.

When I went to the South Melbourne Market to replenish my empty refrigerator I was not allowed to pay for a single item. All kinds of articles including a silk shirt were pressed on me. I was with one of my nephews and when I protested he wisely counselled me, “I think you should just accept, Shirley”.

Another consequence of the Lusitania which I hope will be repeated for the Flotilla was that even school children knew the truth about East Timor after we returned.

For the West Papuan Flotilla the truth is again very simple: money is the root of all evil. The same morning as Bishop made her comments, news broke that America has agreed to sell Apache helicopters worth $500 million to Indonesia. Who is likely to invade Indonesia? Tonga? Tasmania?

I don’t know anything about Julie Bishop except her chosen field of work, but I don’t believe for a moment that she can be as ignorant of the plight of the subjugated citizens of West Papua as her comments suggest. She is backed up by Foreign Minister Bob Carr, who is quoted as referring to the protestors as “fringe activists” in several reports.

As far as my experience as an activist is concerned, Carr is guilty of tautology.

Perhaps the brave souls manning the flotilla are aware that Australian foreign aid to Indonesia is$647 Million – a 350 per cent increase over seven years. Australia also provides military and other hardware above this amount. Indonesia’s expenditure on military is $8 billion – a 300 per cent increase over the same seven years.

Australia gives more foreign aid to Indonesia than the whole of Africa and the Middle Eastcombined. Australia’s aid to Indonesia has increased while aid in all other areas including Pacific neighbours has been cut.

In other words, Australian taxpayer dollars could be helping to finance the purchase of Apache attack helicopters for the Indonesian military – the same military that is responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths in occupied West Papua.

After she sat down, we walked peacefully up to her table with the Morning Star flag and asked if we could meet to discuss West Papua. Eventually she agreed to meet privately, but only with me and on condition that no photographs or flags were present. It was agreed and I was taken into a room, body ...

Song Papua February 21, 2018

For your search query Song Papua MP3 we have found 1000000 songs matching your query but showing only top 10 results only (Due to API limit restrictions we cannot show you more than 10 results). Now we recommend you to Download first result George Telek "west Papua" Papua Merdeka Remix ...

International Recognition Reaches Dead End, Indonesia Says West Papua's Bid, Pacific News Minute, End HawaiipublicradioFull, Get all the Latest news, Breaking headlines and Top stories, photos & video in real time about Southeast Asia News.

Culture Roundup: Feb 21-27 February 21, 2018

There will be a big fundraiser for West Papua at the Ewingsdale Hall on Saturday. Staring at 10 in the morning with yoga, then featuring the tranquil flute sounds of Lord Bhati, chi gong energy flow by Vitoria Borg-Oliver, guitar and vocals by Lucy Gallant, ecstatic free-flow dance by Anne O Hoy, the Band ...

Last week, we reported on the inconclusive decision by the Melanesian Spearhead Group on West Papua's bid for full membership. Since then, Indonesia's declared victory in its campaign to block international recognition for the United Liberation Movement, and we've learned more about how they did ...

Category:Pro West Papua February 21, 2018

Pages in category "Pro West Papua". “ Fijiball is a small island countryball in the Pacific. He is of enemy of Australiaball. He is... Fijiball · “ Netherlandsball, aka. Dutchball, is a Western European countryball. His clay is bordered by... Netherlandsball · “ New Caledoniaball is a French dependency sui ...

Indonesia says the US has undertaken to lift the remaining restrictions on engagement with Indonesia's Kopassus special forces, ending a 19-year ban on the unit linked to civilian killings and human rights abuses in West Papua, Aceh and East Timor. Former Indonesian military commander Moeldoko, ...

Tree house Korowai tribe Tree houses Indonesia and West papua February 21, 2018

But it's not just Abandoned Korowai treehouse, West Papua, Indonesia. Head of a Kombai clan stands before his tree KOROWAI TREE TRIBE. For this reason they retreat to the safety of their tree houses before sunset and remain there until first light. A challenging 2016 trekking expedition into the ...

1) ULMWP Can Pass Muster: Foreign Minister February 21, 2018

In a brief message yesterday, Vanuatu Foreign Minister Ralph Regenvanu responded to an Indonesian spokesman's claims by Indonesia's First Secretary for Political Affairs in Australia that West Papua's 'game is up'. Radio New Zealand reported earlier this week that Mr Sade Bimantara said that the ...

Indonesia: Overcoming challenges in developing February 21, 2018

Otniel Tamindael Antara 21 Feb 18; Jakarta (ANTARA News) - In the development of tourism sector in the "Bay of Paradise," better known as the Cendrawasih Bay National Park area that stretches in the border of Papua and West Papua provinces, the local government is faced with many challenges.

The Indonesian Statistics Agency reported last year that with 22 percent of the population living below the poverty line, East Nusa Tenggara ranks as the third poorest among Indonesia's 34 provinces after Papua and West Papua. And in a desperate bid to escape the poverty trap many parents are ...

West Kalimantan provinces recorded the highest number at 23 hotspots, followed by West Java 14, Central Kalimantan, 12, Riau 9, Riau Islands and Papua each had 4, Central Java 3, West Papua, East Java and Maluku each had 2, and Banka-Belitung Islands, North Maluku and South Sumatera each ...

Overcoming challenges in developing "Bay of Paradise" February 21, 2018

A diver recorded the activities of Whale Shark fish (Whale Shark) in Kwatisore, Cendrawasih Bay National Park, West Papua. ... sector in the "Bay of Paradise," better known as the Cendrawasih Bay National Park area that stretches in the border of Papua and West Papua provinces, the local government ...

The Melanesian Spearhead Group Leaders Meeting was held in Port Moresby last week, with a membership application from the United Liberation Movement for West Papua again under consideration. In The Diplomat, Grant Wyeth looks at how the MSG's members are sharply divided on the issue of ...

West Papua Liberation Army in fresh campaign against Indonesia February 21, 2018